ZitatKimi Raikkonen: "Rules change, the sport not»
An interview with the Australian Grand Prix winner. "If Pirelli changes now, then just others will whine."
Many Formula 1 insiders are of the opinion: With a better start Lotus star Kimi Raikkonen would have had a say about the victory in the end. This is perhaps a good starting point for group discussion with the Formula 1 champion in 2007.
Kimi, you said in Shanghai, you had at the start problems. Are you now progressed in troubleshooting?
The clutch has simply not allowed those slip that we needed for a healthy grip and a good start. There are some factors that need to play together, and if one of them is wrong, then you come off not ideal from the starting point. It's that simple.
Your duel with Sergio Pérez was one of the scandals of the race. You've complained on the radio also loudly about the Mexican. Did you understand that he has received no punishment from the stewards?
It does not change anything. I just wanted to convey my point (Kimi then on radio: "What the hell is he doing"), and I did. Everything else is not in my hand. I actually found it was clear what happened, but different people see certain situations, just different. But my race wouldn't have changed with or without penalty or punishment. And what happened just happened.
You noticed Sergio by aggressive maneuvers before already?
No, I guess I just caught him at the wrong moment.
Who do you appreciate here as biggest rivals? Ferrari?
I have not the slightest idea. There are four teams that stand out, which is now quite a while already that way. I guess one of these four teams will make it.
What difference will make the Pirelli conversion? Instead of soft and hard with medium-hard and hard?
This can already make something, but I do not think I know more than you when it comes to tires. I have never driven the 2013 tires in Bahrain, they are different than those from last year. Without testing, I can say nothing about it. The tires are as they are, we have to live with it.
What do you have to finish your winless time here in the desert? (Kimi was third three times and twice runner-up, but has never won here. MB)
What I have to do? Win. (laughter in the round.) Without driving I can not answer if I have the chance to.
The straights in Bahrain are quite short. Makes that the position in the final training important?
Nothing has changed. On some tracks it's easier to overtake, on others it is difficult. You always need speed. If you do not have that it doesn't matter how long the straights are.
Is the lotus generally quicker in qualifying trim than a year ago?
Only if you get everything right. And that is not always easy. But that is true in Formula 1. We could not show in Malaysia what the Lotus is really capable of. In China it was okay again.
Is the optimal window for setup smaller than last year?
No.
Three races, three different winners. Will that go on like last year when we did had seven different winners in the first seven races?
We have four teams of two drivers, so ... But as the season develops, also depends on the parts, which will bring the various racing teams on the track. Since a team can easily make significant progress. And then it looks again different.
Fernando Alonso has thanks to the victory of China the momentum set to win again?
It's always like this: You have a bad race, as Fernando in Malaysia, then you get write down from all. Have a good race as Fernando in China, then you get write up high in the sky. Only when everything is right, you can win. Ferrari had a good weekend in China, but no one knows whether that will repeat here.
You think your own title chances are higher than a year ago?
In a way, yes, because I had better start to the year. We had a good 2012, hopefully we can improve this year.
You've been a long time in Formula 1. Has the racing changed?
I don't think that. If you fight at the top it is always difficult. The cars have changed. Sometimes it is easy to overtake, sometimes not. Everything depends on the car, and from the perspective nothing has changed. I do not think that it has changed much in my ten years. The rules change, but they do not change the sport.
Do you see a need to intervene in the tires?
No. In general, you're always trying to get as quickly as possible to the finish. One could also try today to stop five times. Then he would certainly have fresher tyres than other drivers. But would that be the faster way to get to the finish? I do not think so. One always has had to take care of his tires, I do not quite understand all the fuss. Racers are never satisfied, there is always something to whine. The task for Pirelli is also not the easiest. Whatever they do, there will be drivers and teams who are unhappy about it. It is up to us to bring the best out of the tires.
But may the best still win?
Most of times yes. But again - everything has to be right. And when an item just does not fit, then you pay the price for it.
So would you call it unfair that now - because of complaints by some teams - the tire compounds would be changed?
Some would find that certainly good, but others would complain bitterly. As I said: It is impossible to make everyone happy.
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have talked in recent weeks very highly of the other. Do you feel ignored?
I don't care. Everyone can think what he wants. If you like one better than the other, that does not mean he is driving better than the other.
But is it another performance badge to win a title multiple times?
How should I know? I was only once world champion. (Laughter in the round.) For me personally, a second title would not change anything in life. The people around you might take a different view, no idea.
Are they using more woman reporter while interviewing Kimi? " title="naughty" /> Hard to say based on FP1 what Grosjean likes about the car. He was a bit slower than Kimi but they both spent quite a lot of time at their garage.
Maybe news agengys think he could be softer...TS wrote Grosjean isnt still fully satisfied to his car. Kimis rear suspension was under changes at FP 1, so thats why he spent a whole lot of time in garage.
Kimi Räikkönen went fastest for Lotus F1 Team on the opening day of action here at round four of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship; the Bahrain Grand Prix. Kimi set a 1min 34.154secs lap using the medium compound tyres in hot conditions during the Friday afternoon practice session. Romain Grosjean – who is using a new chassis for this weekend – set the seventh fastest time of the day.
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes - Both drivers ran with the latest front wing specification, as debuted by Romain in China. - Kimi evaluated new rear suspension components during the morning session. - Pirelli’s hard (orange) compound tyre was used in the first session, the hard and medium (white) tyres in the afternoon.
What we learned today: - The latest front wing works well. - We are analysing the data from the new rear suspension components. - The car looks good with both tyre compounds.
Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03 Free practice 1: P9, 1:35.345, 17 laps Free practice 2: P1, 1:34.154, 31 laps
Kimi: “It’s nice to be fastest but you never know what the others are doing; we just stick to our programme and don’t take too much notice of what else is happening. I actually made a mistake through the final corners on my fastest lap, so there’s still more time to be found. It’s tricky to get the setup right here and the wind can make a big difference; it might work for you one way but make things more tricky the other. It wasn’t a bad start today; things aren’t exactly where we want them but we’re reasonably fast, so let’s see what we can do from here.”
Romain Grosjean, E21-02 Free practice 1: P10, 1:35.611, 14 laps Free practice 2: P7, 1:34.631, 33 laps
Romain: “The new chassis feels good. Today we’ve been working on getting the right correlation between chassis, setup and tyres to extract everything we want from it. It’s easy to know what you want, the difficult bit is getting the little details sorted, but we’re getting there and it’s been a positive day. We’ve seen that Kimi was fastest today so that gives us a great target for tomorrow.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “It was a fairly standard Friday for us, which is a nice way to start the weekend. We looked at setup work in the morning before moving to longer runs, higher fuel race pace and degradation analysis on both tyre compounds in the afternoon, with no problems or interruptions to the programme. We were able to push both allocated compounds of tyres pretty well in the hot conditions today and generally the cars are well balanced. Romain’s running a new chassis and overall is happy with the car so we’re looking forward to an exciting qualifying session tomorrow.”
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Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:22 pm
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" title="there" /> sorry there is no pic was just joking with Rage
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